He's incredible and he's Hispanic, ... and I think the Democrats saw that and thought, 'The reason he's being nominated for a lower court is he's the next Supreme Court nominee, so let's block him now.'

The main reason I say those racy or thought-provoking perspectives (is) I'm trying to provoke my students to go out there and decide for themselves. I try to throw alternative perspectives out to students so they can (think) critically. I think the whole thing is reflective of a trend, an intolerance for anyone who would dare to speak with an opposing view ... This is not a good sign for a healthy democracy.

The Democrats don't really have any significant reason at this point to oppose him,

This is an important moment in the confirmation process but it is unfortunate that the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee put partisan politics first in their vote today.

He doesn't bring personal political views to work.

He told the president that he'd come and you know, nobody takes their job more seriously than the current chief justice.